


These are Your First Steps

by BatuuPrincess



Series: Damerey Week [1]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Brief mentions of torture, Damerey Week, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, First Meetings, Rey Needs A Hug
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-15
Updated: 2018-10-15
Packaged: 2019-08-02 05:44:26
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,071
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16299233
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BatuuPrincess/pseuds/BatuuPrincess
Summary: In the aftermath of Crait, Poe and Rey meet each other for the first time on the Millennium Falcon. Neither is exactly what the other expects.





	These are Your First Steps

**Author's Note:**

> Damerey Week is upon us! 
> 
> Based off the day one prompts cold and first meeting reimagined.

Rey sat on the floor in the quietest corner of the Millennium Falcon (an oxymoron if she’d ever heard one, nothing about the Falcon was quiet), willing her teeth not to chatter. The adrenaline of the battle (Multiple battles. Wait, did hand-to-hand combat count as a battle?) had long ago faded, leaving her tired and shaking and utterly alone as she watched the surviving members of the Resistance embrace all around her, sharing smiles and tears in equal measure.

Rey viciously swiped at her eyes, trying to erase the tears that ran down her own face. She didn’t deserve to be upset, not when so many around her had lost so much more.

She told herself she was being ridiculous. She’d barely known Han Solo, and Master Skywalker had spent half of their short time together flat-out refusing to teach her. The madness with Ben Solo ( _Kylo Ren_ , she corrected herself instantly) was a mess, but certainly nothing she should be crying over. Not him, never again. Then there was the knowledge that she had waited all those years on Jakku in vain; no one was ever coming back for her. She hadn’t been hidden or even abandoned, she’d been _sold_.

She was nobody, nothing, a point underscored by the fact that she was sitting alone and unnoticed in a room full of people that she had just saved. Pretty much single-handedly. Rey’s breath hitched a little as she shivered, the thin fabric wrapped around her arms doing little to protect her from the cold durasteel of the Falcon. Rey sighed, rubbing her hands up and down her forearms in an attempt to keep warm, when she heard someone tentatively clear their throat.

She looked up to find one of the few remaining Resistance pilots standing in front of her. And not just any pilot, but Poe-I’m-the-best-pilot-in-the-Resistance-Dameron sheepishly holding out a gray blanket.

“I could hear your teeth chattering halfway across the Falcon,” he said with a smile that didn’t quite touch his eyes. “I’m Poe, by the way.”

Of course she knew who he was, would know him even if she hadn’t accidentally plucked his face out of Finn’s head on more than one occasion. He’d led the attack on Starkiller, faced down a Dreadnaught to buy the Resistance time to escape, he’d even named her only friend for kriff’s sake.

“I’m Rey,” she replied, accepting the blanket with a watery smile and throwing it over her shoulders. She heaved a sigh of relief as the blanket cut off the cold air, her shivering stopping almost instantly.

Poe chuckled, the soft lines at the corners of his eyes deepening to a full crinkle. “I know.”

Rey blinked at him twice, her chin wobbling dangerously. Poe’s eyes went wide as he crouched down to her eye level.

“Whoa, are you okay? Are you hurt?” he asked, his eyes roaming over her body as he reached out a hand to touch her shoulder.

She burst into tears as the warmth and weight of his hand seeped into the blanket, her own exhaustion and the kindness on Poe’s face finally getting the better of her.

Today had been the longest day of her life so far, though at this point, she wasn’t even sure if it was the same day anymore. Had it been two days? Three? When was the last time she slept? She knew it had been on Ahch-To, but between hyperspace and captivity and torture and a battle and more hyperspace and another battle she was barely certain of her own name anymore, let alone how many days had passed since her last sleep.

Poe was still crouching in front of her, his eyes a little wild as he tried to figure out what was wrong. After a second of hesitation, he reached out, pulling Rey into his arms.

Rey melted in to the embrace, burying her head in his shoulder as he wrapped his arms around her, blanket falling to the floor, completely forgotten. Poe rubbed one hand in gentle circles on her back, the simple tenderness of the gesture setting Rey off again.

“I’m sorry,” she sniffled, as her breath stuttered in her chest. She desperately wished for someplace to wipe her nose, praying to the Force itself that she hadn’t left a trail of snot on Poe’s jacket. She pulled back slightly, Poe letting her go just as easily as he’d taken her into his arms. “I’m fine, really. It’s just been a long couple of days.” She left out the fact that she wasn’t used to people being kind to her, especially people she’d only just met (Finn excluded), figuring that was a little too much information for a first conversation.

His answering smile was tinged with both relief and sadness. “Tell me about it,” he said, gesturing toward an empty swatch of wall. “Mind if I join you?”

“Not at all,” she said, scooting to give him a little more room. She sniffed again, her nose starting to drip in what she imagined was an unattractive way. This certainly wasn’t how she had imagined meeting the great hero of the Resistance - the man Finn simply wouldn’t shut up about - but then again, he wasn’t exactly what she expected either.

She’d heard words thrown around about him: brash, daring, fearless. The word mutiny came up more than once. She’d been expecting a cocky flyboy similar to the pilots she’d seen in Niima Outpost, the men who attempted to offer her credits or portions for her nightly company before she politely turned them down with the help of her staff. Yet, she didn’t get any of that from the man currently lowering himself to the ground with a soft grunt, a wince contorting his features for a moment before he straightened out his legs.

He was careful to leave enough space so they weren’t actually touching, though Rey could still feel the warmth of his body bleeding through her tunic and down her right side. She attempted to surreptitiously wipe her nose on one of her arm wraps, checking to make sure Poe’s attention was elsewhere.

They sat in comfortable silence for a full minute before Poe spoke, his voice low. “You wanna talk about it?”

Rey pulled her knees to her chest, folding herself into a little ball. “Not particularly,” she answered, looking over at Poe to gauge his reaction.

He continued to stare straight ahead as he nodded his head. “Fair enough.”

She followed his gaze past the benches and the dejarik board to the opposite wall where it fell on General Organa. She was leaning heavily against the bulkhead, a thin cane in her hand as she conferred with another woman in an officer’s uniform, both women looking serious.

Rey turned her attention back to Poe, his forehead lined in either concentration or worry as he continued to watch whatever was unfolding across the lounge.

He looked different than he did in Finn’s head. In person, Poe was somehow older, more serious than the gleeful pilot who stole a TIE fighter and named a former Stormtrooper, the bruised-looking skin under his eyes and the tension in his jaw hinting at whatever horrors this week had unleashed upon him.

But despite all that, she found that she liked his face, the face of a man who had fought hard and lost, yet still had hope. 

“How about you? Do you want to talk about it?” she asked, Poe turning to give her his full attention. Rey shivered slightly as his eyes met hers, the intensity of his gaze almost too much for her.

“Not really,” he said, a wry smile creeping across his face. He leaned forward, picking up the discarded blanket and wrapping her back up, his left shoulder remaining pressed against her right when he sat back against the wall.

Rey nodded once, trying not to let the warmth of the blanket (and the man next to her) lull her to sleep. She was just so kriffing tired, and quite frankly wouldn’t mind this day being over, but something about her present company urged her to stay awake.

Rather than continuing to openly stare at Poe (something she suspected was frowned upon in polite company), she turned her head to scan the room once more. Her eyes fell on the bunk set into the far wall, watching as Finn tucked in the small mechanic ( _Rose_ , her brain supplied. _Her name is Rose_.) that he had been so intent on saving back on Crait.

Rey didn’t have a word for the feeling that awakened in her every time she saw Finn with Rose, but she knew it was something sad and a little bit ugly, an emotion better left unexpressed. She shivered again, wrapping the blanket more tightly around her.

“Are you still cold? I can try to find an extra… oh...” Poe trailed off, his eyes falling on Finn and Rose. “So, full disclosure, that may also be my fault.”

“What?” Rey turned to find Poe watching her, a guilty look on his face.

“Well, I kinda sent them off on an unsanctioned mission and, well, they came back like that,” he said, gesturing toward the vigil Finn was keeping over Rose’s sleeping form. “Maybe they’re just friends?”

Rey barked out a laugh, Poe giving her a half smile as they both leaned back against the durasteel. “No, I think it’s good. She gave him a reason to fight, a reason to stay. I think we’ll all be better off for it.” She paused for a second, something dawning on her. “Wait, unsanctioned mission? Was this a part of your mutiny?”

Rey watched as the blush crawled up from his chest, pink blossoming on his tanned cheeks. She realized, perhaps a little too late, that discussing a person’s mutiny was probably something else frowned upon in polite company.

“So you heard about that,” he said, looking down at his hands. His eyes shined in the bright lights of the Falcon, Rey’s stomach dropping as she realized this was her fault. Apparently, she still had some work to do on her social skills.

She reached toward him, letting the blanket slip off her shoulders again as she grabbed one of his hands. He looked up at her, the pain and sadness she found in his dark eyes mirroring her own.

“I just wanted to save the Resistance,” he said, his fingers twining with hers. She didn’t know who was holding on tighter at this point. “How did I fuck it up so bad?”

The first tears slipped from his eyes, Rey watching their slow progression down to his jaw before they dropped, one-by-one, to be absorbed by his pants.

She squeezed his hand once. “Did I tell you the one where I thought I could turn Kylo Ren? Where I was so sure of it, I willingly turned myself over to the man who had tortured me and killed his own father?” she attempted a small smile as a single tear escaped, Rey pausing to brush it away. “I guess we both made some mistakes.”

Poe squeezed her hand back. “Well, aren’t we a pair?” he said, a half smile on his face as he hastily wiped his tears. He was quiet again for a second, Rey almost missing what he said next. “You know, he tortured me too.”

She watched as he worked his jaw, the tension coming off him in waves.

“Hate to break it to you, but I don’t think that’s a very exclusive club.”

Poe whipped his head toward her, the shock in his eyes making her wonder if she’d put her foot in her mouth again. Poe surprised her a second later when he burst out laughing, his sides shaking as he leaned forward. Rey couldn’t help but giggle in response, a sound she could have sworn had never passed her lips before.

“You got me there,” he said, with another short laugh, his breath slowly returning to normal as he sat back.

They lapsed in to companionable silence as Rey’s eyes grew heavier, the day (days) finally catching up with her. She listed to the side as she struggled to keep upright, Poe gently guiding her head to his shoulder as her eyes fluttered closed.

“You were not what I was expecting,” he said quietly, his breath warm on her forehead as Rey finally gave in to sleep.

**Author's Note:**

> Find me on Tumblr at [BatuuPrincess](https://batuuprincess.tumblr.com).
> 
> Looking for more Damerey Week goodness? Check out the [Damerey Connection](http://damereyconnection.tumblr.com).


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